AP: Victims Say Foley Should Name Abuser (Clergyman)

[mhatrw]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Foley_Clergy_Abuse.html

Victims say Foley should name abuser

By BRIAN SKOLOFF
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Former Rep. Mark Foley's refusal to identify the clergyman he says molested him as a boy is reckless and could put other children at risk, say victims' advocates and a former priest who knows the ex-congressman.

If Foley has information about a child molester, especially one who is still living, he should come forward with that immediately, they say.

"To simply say, `I can't tell you the name,' in my judgment, that's despicable," said William Brooks, a former Roman Catholic priest at Cardinal Newman High School in Lake Worth where Foley was briefly a student in 1969. "It casts a dark cloud of suspicion over all the clergy who worked during those days. I just think it's wrong."

[xultar]

1. Don't wanna get caught in a lie Foley? Don't u wanna protect the kids?

[ShortnFiery]

2. You can't name someone who doesn't exist

Foley thought that he'd be off of the hook by the time the election was over and he exited ReHab.

These Republican Congressmen think that they are invincible. That the public will believe any old excuse they gave for their perversions.

NOPE, this time it won't work.

This so called Clergyman who allegedly abused Foley only exists in the deep dark PERVERTED recesses of his mind. :grr:

[mhatrw]

6. Exactly.

Did Foley really think no one would call him on this?

[Debi]

3. One question

If Foley had been molested as a teen and it caused him to be an alcoholic:eyes:and gay:eyes:and a sexual predator !!! WHY would he want to let that happen to others? His behavior placed the teens he had these 'little talks' with in the same position the alleged molestation of his youth did to him. WHY would he do that knowing what it did to him :shrug:

Uh, unless he's not telling the truth :mad:


Naaaaaah, That'd never happen :hide:

[Irreverend IX]

26. Duh, he's a Republican.

He's not capable of considering the consequences of his actions.

[Tempest]

4. Foley has screwed not only himself, but the entire Repug party

This is not going to play well with the Grand Old Pedophile party's base.

Foley needs to come clean and admit he lied about being molested, just like he lied about being an alcoholic.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

5. People are FINALLY calling out the criminals. n/t

MKJ

[Anakin Skywalker]

7. If You Don't Name the Name, Then

the terrorists will have won! Why do you hate America, Mr. Foley?

[Bucky]

8. I got 5 bucks that says the priest is "dead." Hell, right now they must be

...scouring old obits for someone to fit the profile.

[LisaM]

10. Who said it was a priest?

He said clergyman - why does it necessarily have to be a Catholic one? Most Catholics don't refer to priests as clergymen.

[ljm2002]

14. Er, might be because Foley is Catholic?

...Just sayin'

[LostinVA]

15. Because Foley is Catholic and served as an acolyte

[LisaM]

16. Oops! I've been getting my news off a cellphone for 2 days.

In my church, btw, we called them altar boys and not acolytes.

[Bucky]

18. Well, let's not lose sight of the fact that the alleged perp may not exist

Which raises the important question... if fictional characters can harm us retroactively from when they were invented, can we still hate them?

FWIW, "clergyman" could mean something beside priest: monk, rector, deacon... heck, even a sexton. In theory, if Foley was an altar boy, the clergyman who abused him as a child might even have been himself.

[hedgehog]

21. I thought that was odd phrasing myself.

Most Catholics use the phrase "clergyman" to refer to a member of the Protestant clergy. Members of the Catholic clergy are identified by role - priest, deacon, sister, bishop, friar, etc.

[yojon]

24. Maybe it is a rabbi

and Foley is really Jewish like Felix Allen

[1932]

23. They're looking for someone they know molested someone else

so that they don't have to defame an innocent person whose friends will defend him.

But if they can't find a dead priest they know did this to someone else, then they're in a tight spot.

[JoFerret]

9. Chances are he was abused by someone

...or more than one. Always good to start with the family.

[stepnw1f]

11. excellent..... buh bye GOP... Have Fun Spinning...

or should I say swirling down the toilet bowl.

[deadparrot]

12. Thought that said priest was conveniently dead.

:eyes:

This whole thing is really a lose-lose situation for Foley if he's lying. If he doesn't say a name, there are kids out there that could still be in theoretical danger. If he says a name, he's going to face a slew of charges from the alleged predator (or his family, if he's deceased).

[LostinVA]

13. Father William is correct

[IndianaGreen]

17. Foley is making all of this up!

And he has done an injustice by bringing a cloud of suspicion on innocent people.

[Javaman]

19. Foley won't say because it's all bullshit.

I think I'm going to get a shovel, paint it red and write republican bullshit filter on it.

[Kber]

20. By NOT naming his abuser, he has made terrible accusations by innuendo

against the ENTIRE teaching staff at his Catholic school he attended between ages 13 - 15.

Every priest there is under another cloud of suspicion, which they cannot begin to address in any way unless he names his accuser.

[AngryOldDem]

22. Exactly. Put up or shut up, Foley n/t

[Irreverend IX]

25. Give it time, guys...

It'll take Foley's lawyers a while to find a dead priest who spent enough time with Foley during his childhood for the story to be plausible.